1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an ink cartridge for use with an ink jet printer, which is produced in view of recycle of resources, and a method of disassembling the same.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, an ink cartridge to be removably loaded in an ink jet printer was proposed e.g. by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 8-132636. The ink cartridge is a type which is connected to a print head by inserting a head needle provided on a print head side of an ink jet printer into an ink delivery port of the ink cartridge. The ink cartridge includes a cartridge casing comprised of a lower casing serving as a casing body and an upper casing serving as a casing lid, and an ink-absorbent material filling the cartridge casing. The ink delivery port is formed through a bottom of the lower casing, and a filter is arranged inward of the ink delivery port between the ink delivery port and the ink-absorbent material. Further, the ink delivery port has a rubber packing mounted on an inner periphery thereof for intimate contact with the head needle connected to the ink cartridge.
The upper casing is formed with an ink-charging port and an air inlet port both extending through a top wall thereof, and a meandering air groove continuous with the air inlet port in the top surface thereof. Further, a delivery port-sealing film is affixed to the bottom surface of the lower casing by thermo-compression bonding such that it seals the ink delivery port, and an air inlet port-sealing film are affixed to the top surface of the upper casing by thermo-compression bonding such that it seals the ink-charging port, the air inlet port, and the meandering air groove.
The upper and lower casings, the delivery port-sealing film, and the air inlet port-sealing film are formed of polypropylene, whereas the ink-absorbent material, the filter, and the rubber packing are formed of urethane, stainless steel, and a synthetic rubber, respectively.
In order to disassemble the conventional ink cartridge constructed as above, for the purpose of recycle, it is required to separate the upper and lower casings, the delivery port-sealing film, and the air inlet port-sealing film (i.e. the component parts formed of polypropylene), each of which is recyclable, from the other component parts which cannot be recycled. To do this, first, the cartridge casing is cut so as to take out the ink-absorbent material and the filter therefrom. However, when the cartridge casing is cut, the ink-absorbent material is cut together with the cartridge casing, which makes assortment of the disassembled component parts troublesome. Further, the ink-absorbent material and the filter are taken out from a portion of the cartridge casing cut open, whereas the rubber packing is required to be taken out after the delivery port-sealing film being peeled off, in a direction opposite to the direction in which the ink-absorbent material is removed. This also makes the separation and assortment of the disassembled component parts troublesome.